In the year 2001, a momentous event occurred, a great
international recognition of the United Nations' efforts to work for a more
peaceful world; the United Nations Secretary-General and the United Nations
Organization, itself, were joint recipients of the Nobel
Peace Prize -- on the hundredth anniversary of the Nobel Peace Prize, itself.

A
century before, in the year 1901, the altruist, Alfred Nobel left
funds in his will to award five prizes each year to those whose work, in his
words, "conferred
the greatest benefit on mankind". Alfred Nobel specified that one of the
five prizes be given to the person who has "done the most or the best
work for fraternity between nations, for the abolitionor reduction of standing
armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses" -- thus,
he created the Nobel Peace Prize.

In awarding the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize to
the United Nations, the Nobel Prize Committee issued the following statement:
"The U.N. has in its history achieved many successes, and suffered many setbacks.
Through this first Peace Prize to the U.N. as such, the Norwegian Nobel
Committee wishes in its centenary year to proclaim that the only negotiable
route to global peace and cooperation goes by way of the United
Nations." The Nobel Committee wished to honour,
encourage, and empowerthe
work of the United Nations by giving the Organization the Nobel Peace Prize
on the hundredth anniversary of the institution of the Nobel Prize,
itself. As the Peace Prize honours the
Organization, it also honours its seventh
Secretary-General, KofiAnnan,
who has devoted nearly his entire adult working life to the service
of the United Nations and its agencies, beginning with the World
Health Organization in Geneva in 1962, and subsequently, with the UN Office
of the High Commissioner for Refugees.

Mr. Annan
is the only Secretary-General who has risen through the ranks
of the United Nations Organization and held senior posts in its diverse
departments, such as Human Resources, Budget and Finance, and Peacekeeping,
where he served as Under Secretary-General. Such experience has made this UN
Secretary-General uniquely suited to
understanding the Organization's potential and possibilities. He is also
credited with bringing "new life"
to the UN, particularly regarding efforts in the areas of promoting
human rights, fighting HIV-AIDS, and international terrorism. Mr. Annan is the second Secretary-General to receive the
Nobel peace Prize; the first to receive it was DagHammarskjold, the second UN Secretary-General in
1961. The year 2001 Prize is not the only time those working
within the United Nations community were awarded prizes by
the Nobel Prize Committee. Seven previous Nobel Peace Prizes were
given to officials or agencies of the UN. In 1988, the Peace Prize went to
U.N. peacekeeping forces, for "reducing tensions" and making
"a decisive contribution toward the
initiation of actualpeace
negotiations." In 1981, the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees won the Nobel peace Prize for its work resettling refugees (UNHCR
had also been awarded the Nobel Prize in 1954). In 1979, AbdusSalam of the International Atomic Energy Commission
won the Nobel prize for physics; in 1969, the International Labour Organization won the Nobel Prize; in 1965, the Peace Prize was awarded to Unicef for its efforts in promoting the quality of life
of the world's children; in 1950, the Peace Prize went to Ralph Bunche, who was then the chief assistant to the United
Nations' special envoy in Palestine. Bunche later
successfully mediated an armisticeagreement signed by the Arab states and Israel;
in 1945, the Peace Prize was awarded to John Boyd Orr for his work as
Director-General of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).

In
their very diverse ways, all seven of the UN
Nobel Prizewinners have fulfilled
Alfred Nobel's wish to do "the most or the best work for fraternity
between nations."